Falling Into Old Habits
by Pandalandalopalis
Summary: A month after Iris and Eddie move in together, they have a huge fight. When Iris is left in tears, she calls the Flash to pick up the pieces.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a month since Iris and Eddie had moved in together, and things were moving smoothly. Well, as smooth as can be expected. Living together in a new place wasn't that different– they were both at work most of the day, and then they spent the night together. The only real difference was the way they kept the place. Iris liked having everything nice and tidy when she got home so she could relax after a long day. However, Eddie didn't mind a little bit of mess. "Organized chaos," he had called it. Iris didn't realize he was one of _those_ people.

So far it hadn't caused any huge problems, besides a rare spat once and a while, which usually ended up with both of them apologising to each other. But tonight was different. Tonight Iris had come home with her feet hurting and a sorry amount of tips in her pocket. She surveyed the room, a bad mood brewing in her expression. The dishes hadn't been done. There was a coat on the floor, lazily thrown on the rack and carelessly left where it fell. Hunger pains rumbled in her stomach as she saw absolutely no dinner had been prepared. And then there was Eddie, sitting on the couch, watching TV with a beer in his hand. An empty can sat on the table near his propped-up feet, dripping its residue onto the wood.

Eddie smiled and greeted her. "Hey! Sorry there's no dinner, I thought you were going to be home earlier."

Iris gritted her teeth and took off her jacket. "I told you I was going to be working the late shift as well tonight, Eddie."

He shrugged with a small apologetic look. "Must've slipped my mind. Anywho, I ordered a pizza a few hours ago." She was surprized she hadn't noticed the pizza box sitting on the floor next to the couch. "It's probably cold by now, but you can heat it up if you want."

Iris left the room to change out of her waitressing uniform and into some normal clothes. When she came out she was practically steaming.

"So that whole time that you waited for me, you didn't think to make dinner for once?" she said, her voice slightly above speaking level.

"Well, I–"

"Or _think_ to do the dishes?"

"Well–"

"_What_ is your problem, Eddie?!" Her voice rose higher. "I come home after an _eight-hour_ shift to find you, sitting on the couch, no food made and nothing done?!"

"Look," Eddie began, slowly getting up. "I had a long day, too. Probably harder than yours. I mean, with what I do compared to what _you_ do. . ." He stopped as Iris's eyes narrowed at him. "That didn't come out right."

"No, no, go ahead. Say it!"

He sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine. I'm a police officer, Iris. Which means I'm out there every day, _risking my life_, while you're just . . . taking orders and bringing food to people."

She was fuming. "You have no idea just _how hard_ I worked today, Eddie! It was very busy today and we were short on staff because someone was sick. The customers were particularly rude and I do all this for _what_? Two freakin' dollars in tips. So yeah, I want to just sit on the couch, watch TV, and drink a beer, too. But I can't because nothings done around here!"

Eddie gritted his teeth. "Iris, today one of our guys was shot. He's fine, but things like that could happen to me at any point in time. And I don't risk my life for this city –for _you_– just to come home and be yelled at!"

"Why do you always have to do that?!" Iris shouted. "Always one-up me?! Always make it like your job is more important than mine?!"

"It _is_!"

"Then why do you have to make it seem like your _better_ than me?!" she screamed. A silence ran after her words. Eddie took a deep breath.

"If you really think that, then maybe we shouldn't be together."

Iris's face fell immediately. Her eyes stung and her voice grew quiet. "You don't mean that."

He sighed and walked past her, grabbing his coat off the floor and putting it on. "I'm going out."

"Eddie, wait–"

The door slammed in response. Tears welled in Iris's eyes as she took in what just happened. She and Eddie had never fought like that before. What the hell had brought that on? Stress? Something else?

She went into their bedroom and sat down as she began to cry. Frustrated tears ran down her cheeks as she tried to think of something she could do. She couldn't stay in that apartment, not with all the mess staring her right in the face and reminding her of what had happened.

Iris reached for the phone and dialed Barry's number, her thumb hovering over Talk. What was she thinking, trying to call him? He had told her he loved her just over two months ago, did she really think it would take that long for Barry's feelings to dissolve? It wouldn't be fair to him if she called him about her problems with Eddie. She couldn't do that. She wouldn't. Not to him. Not to Barry.

Iris pressed End and lightly tossed the phone to the other side of the bed. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her laptop. What was she going to do, google the solution? But she found herself grabbing the small computer anyway, setting it on her lap and typing in the familiar address. The screen loaded to show Iris her webpage, the one she had made for the Flash.

If she couldn't talk to Barry, than she would talk to _him._

* * *

><p>Barry was just at home, sitting in the living room, checking his emails when he saw the new icon pop up.<p>

_The Flash website has been updated! Come check it out!_

He had forgotten to unfollow Iris's updates, considering that she hadn't made one in a while. Too busy with Eddie for news about the Flash, he supposed. But, every once and a while, she would update. Truthfully, Barry found it kind of amusing to read what she thought about him. Or more-so what she thought about the Flash.

He brought up the page to see that the only thing that had been updated was the message that popped up when you came to the site.

_Can I see you?_

Barry read over the words a hundred times, taking it in. It had been a long time since Iris had called on the Flash– not since Bivolo used his powers on him, causing him to be angry enough beat up Eddie. Barry went over in his mind what Iris could possibly want to see the Flash for. And then he thought about whether or not he should go.

_This is a bad idea_, he thought to himself. Going to see the woman he was still in love with at 11:00 o'clock at night; it was practically a recipe for disaster. _We can't just keep falling into old habits. _Barry closed the laptop half-way before stopping himself. _But what if she's in trouble?_ He sighed to himself and lifted the screen. The screen reloaded, an update made to the site.

_Please._

Maybe she really was in trouble. But whether that was true or not, Barry had already made up his mind. Some of Joe's paperwork scattered as he zipped out of the living room with lightning speed, running in and out of his room to get changed and then out the door he went.

* * *

><p>Iris sat at a table in the middle of Jitters. She had unlocked the door with her key and only turned on the light above her. She stared at her laptop at <em>The Flash <em>homepage and her most recent message: _Can I see you? Please. _She thought about removing the 'Please'. She didn't want him to think she was in any danger. Then again, she started to wonder if he even looked at her webpage anymore.

Just when Iris was beginning to doubt even coming to Jitters, she felt a _whoosh _of air and heard the familiar vibrated voice of a certain super-speed hero.

"Are you okay?"

Iris stood up and turned around immediately, her heart suddenly beating very fast. She finally breathed when she saw him; The Flash. Dressed in his signature red suit, his face was shrouded in the darkness of the other side of the café. Iris's voice was filled with surprise when she spoke. "You came."

Meanwhile, Barry was struggling with the sight of Iris. Her mascara was smudged slightly, so he knew she had been crying. Her hands shook at her sides, and her eyes were wide and expecting. The Flash knew exactly the kind of suave superhero response to her words ("I always come when you call"), but unfortunately, Barry's best-friend mode was overriding his thoughts.

"Why are you crying?" He lifted his foot to take a step forward to comfort her, before remembering the mask and staying put.

Iris's hands flew to her face, like she hadn't realized the tears that were there. She wiped them away and sniffed, forcing herself to look back at the Flash without wavering. "My boyfriend and I had a huge fight."

Barry gritted his teeth. He wanted to kill Eddie for making Iris cry. But he forced himself to respond in a level-headed voice. "Your boyfriend? The cop? The one who saved my life?"

Her eyes darted to the ground suddenly. "I had forgotten about that. Guess you'd rather take his side then, huh?" She felt like her heart was in her throat.

The Flash smiled at her, even though he wasn't sure she could see it in the shadows. "Don't you read comic books? The hero always sides with the beautiful lady."

Laughter bubbled up from the knots in Iris's stomach and she lifted her gaze from the floor. Barry was glad to see her smile, to be the one to make her laugh again. But he knew he had to get to the bottom of this.

"Why did you call for me?"

Iris knew the question would come eventually. She sighed. "I just needed someone to talk to."

Barry's chest tightened and he forced his voice not to sound accusatory. "Why didn't you call your friend?"

She shook her head. "I didn't want to bother him with my relationship problems."

He swallowed. "If he was really your friend, then he wouldn't be bothered."

Iris nodded slowly, her eyes dropping to the floor again. "It's complicated." A silence followed, one that she filled with thoughts. She thought about her and Eddie's fight. She thought about how they might be broken up. She thought about how she didn't call Barry. And she thought about how she was just wasting the Flash's time, who probably had people in danger he needed to save.

Suddenly Iris couldn't help the tears that flowed from her cheeks as she began crying again.

She wished that she could stop sobbing in front of the man that she admired so much, but thinking about that only made it worse.

The Flash relinquished the shadows and moved forward in a blur so he was chest-to-chest with Iris. Barry cupped her face with his hand, swiping away a tear with his thumb. "Tell me what happened," he said softly.

Iris kept her eyes on the ground, just relishing the closeness of the Flash and the way his leather-gloved hand felt against her cheek. "I just had a really hard day at work and I came home and nothing was done and I yelled about how tired I was and then Eddie brought up how much harder _his_ job was compared to mine. . . Somehow I ended up saying how it made me feel like he thought he was better than me, and then he was saying that maybe we should break up and then he just . . . stormed out." She took a shaky breath. "But the way he said it, like he was making a threat. I don't think we're really over, I. . . I hope not."

Barry decided to take a risk and say what he was thinking. "Then why are you here with me, instead of going after him?"

Iris's eyes flicked up to look at him, his face immediately blurred with vibrations to hide his identity. But she knew his eyes were boring into hers, looking for an answer. So she gave him one. She placed her hands around his face and cupped his cheeks. She could feel the vibrations under her fingers. Then she pressed her lips to his.

To Iris, it was kind of like kissing a window pane on a bus. His face hadn't stopped shaking and it rattled her brain. For Barry, he was too surprised to do anything. The fastest man alive was frozen to the spot. But as soon as he got the feel of what was happening, he stopped vibrating his face and started kissing her back. When Iris felt the Flash had relaxed, she laced her hands behind his neck. Barry placed his hands on her waist, trying to be gentle; the nice gentleman who was Barry Allen. But _the Flash_ wasn't gentle.

He wrapped his arms around her waist so she was pressed against him. Then he zipped across the room, leaning her against the table, all the while lips connected. Iris had only seen this rough side of the Flash once before, and she wasn't going to lie, it shot sparks up in every part of her body. He turned her around and flashed to the other side of the room, this time pressing her against the wall.

Barry cupped Iris's face and deepened the kiss before starting to come to his senses. He separated his lips from hers, both their eyes still closed.

"We can't do this," he whispered. Iris could feel his breath on her face.

"Why not?" Their lips connected again before the Flash pulled away.

"You don't even know who I am."

"Then tell me."

"It's not that easy."

Iris pressed her lips to his again. Her kisses left Barry breathless and feeling powerless. It took every ounce of will he had to pull away to speak. "What if I see you walking across the street from me?" he asked, his voice a quiet breathe against her lips. "I won't be able to keep my hands off you."

Iris smiled, taking his hands and putting them on her hips. "Then _don't_." Lips reconnected once again to form bruising, hungry kisses. She was biting his lower lip now and _God_ Barry was beginning to lose it. He knew this couldn't continue, yet he was letting it happen.

_This has to stop._

The Flash violently pulled himself away, shooting himself to the other side of the room this time, knocking over a few chairs in the process. Iris's eyes were open now, and he began to vibrate his face again to cover his identity from her. _Man, if she found out it was _me_, after what we just _did_. . ._

"Iris. . ." he began, looking for the right words to tell her what a bad idea this was. She took a few steps toward him. She had never heard him use her name like that before. It sent chills up her spine.

"Why won't you tell me who you are?"

The Flash shook his head. "It's not that easy. Things would change if you knew who I was."

Iris cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Change how?"

Barry searched for a reason, finding the perfect, classic, superhero-type response. "It would put you in danger."

She rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself. Also, my dad's a cop."

He tried to stop himself from saying what came next, but he knew it had to be said. "So is your boyfriend."

Iris's expression dropped and she frowned. She began to take a deep breath, running a hand through her dark hair. "You're right."

"What are you going to tell him?"

"Nothing. And hope he's still with me when I see him again."

Barry's heart clenched painfully, but he knew it was the right answer. Iris bit her lip and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Flash."

"I know. It's not your fault. I shouldn't have let this happen."

"You mean you shouldn't have come?" she asked, dreading the answer. The Flash shook his head.

"No." He paused, putting on a smirk, even though it hurt a little. "I always come when you call."

Iris smiled slightly at that. "I bet you say that to all the other girls." Suddenly the Flash had zipped around, moving his position so that he was standing behind her.

"What other girls?"

And in a flash, that was the end of that. Or maybe, the beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

Barry couldn't stop smiling the next day. Frankly, it was starting to get on some people's nerves.

"What is _up_ with you today?" Caitlin asked. "I'm sorry, but your happiness is getting annoying."

"Nothing!" the speedster replied in a sing-song voice as his zipped around the room. Papers were flying everywhere and Caitlin groaned as she began picking them up. "I got it!" Barry added as he scooped up the papers he had scattered beforehand. But before Caitlin could say another word, his phone started ringing.

"Yeah? Iris, slow down, I can't understand you." Barry's face paled. "Wait, _what_? You and Eddie–?" He cut himself off, jaw clamming shut. He breathed in sharply through his nose. "I'll be at the house in two seconds." And then he was off again, zooming out of the room in a, well, _flash_.

Suffice it to say, there were now more papers on the ground than there were the first time. Caitlin bent back down, angrily gathering up the important documents. Cisco came into the room, drinking the coffee that Barry had been happy enough to bring him that morning.

"Oh, c'mon, Caitlin," he said, helping her pick up the rest of the pages and putting them on the table. "So, Barry's in a good mood. He brought you coffee this morning!"

"I don't like coffee."

"You love coffee."

She sighed. "I know."

"So what is this really about?"

Caitlin gave Cisco a pointed look. "You _know_ what this is about."

"Ronnie. Sorry." He watched her sit back down at the computer and begin doing work. "So, what do you think's got Barry all hyped up all of the sudden?" They were both quite as they filled the silence with thoughts. Then suddenly, they both looked at each other knowingly. When they spoke it was at the same time.

"Iris."

* * *

><p>Barry was literally at the house in five-seconds flat, but he couldn't go in without waiting at least ten minutes to avoid suspicion. He paced back and forth in front of the house, checking his watch consistently until he decided he had waited long enough to go inside.<p>

The first thing he saw was Iris, eyes red-rimmed, and tissues in her hand. He rushed to the couch where she was (minus the super speed, mind you) and sat next to her. "Iris, what happened?"

She sniffled, wiping at her eyes. "Eddie and I broke up."

Barry's jaw clenched. "I'm sorry, Iris." He swallowed. "What happened?"

She shook her head. "No, it's fine, really. I mean, I think deep down, it was already over. It just took a little push for me to realize it." She stood up and threw out her tissues defiantly, crossing her arms and giving a nod like it was final. "I'm done crying over him. I've moved on."

Barry's mind was whirling. His eyebrows knit together. "You-you moved on? So, uh, fast?"

Iris began to play with her fingers, her confident stature crackling. She looked guilty. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. It's the reason why Eddie and I broke up."

_Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit._

"Hey, Barry, I'm home– Oh, hey Iris." Joe West walked through the door, smiling at his daughter. "What are you doing here?"

"Sit down, dad, I have to tell you something, too."

Joe's eyes narrowed slightly, but he did as she asked and sat next to Barry. Iris wrung her hands together. It seemed like it would be harder to tell her dad the news than Barry.

"Okay, well, to start. . . Eddie and I aren't together anymore."

It took a few seconds. Then Joe stood up.

"I'm going to kill him."

"No, dad–" She gave him an exasperated sigh. "Sit down. This wasn't Eddie's fault, it was mine."

"Okay. . ." He sat back down slowly, one eyebrow cocked. He looked to Barry for an explanation, but he just shrugged (albeit a bit dramatically), and made a face when Joe looked away. Barry could guess what was coming next.

"I kissed the Flash."

Silence. Barry's eyes blew up and he bit down so hard on his tongue he could taste blood. He didn't think she'd be so blunt about it. He could feel Joe's stare burning a hole into the side of his head. Slowly, Barry turned to look at him. He expected him to look furious. But, instead, he just looked shocked. Confused. Maybe a little angry. Kind of a mix of "You kissed _my daughter_?!" and "How the hell did you manage to pull _that_ off?" Barry couldn't look away as Joe's eyes changed different emotions every second. His surrogate son felt just as twisted inside. He didn't know what to feel. Although, Barry's feelings were probably somewhat different than Joe's; Joe was dealing with the fact that his daughter had kissed the man who he also raised, while that man was behind a mask; Barry was dealing with the fact that Iris kissed him while he was behind a mask, which led to her breaking up with her long-time boyfriend. Don't even get him started on the fact that technically, Iris's next choice after Eddie was the Flash, and not Barry. He knew he shouldn't think about it like that (they were the _same_ person after all), but it did sting a little.

"Say something." Iris's voice broke them from their thoughts, and Barry and Joe's heads snapped up to look at her. They had almost forgotten she was there. Joe sighed.

"Alright, so you kissed the Flash. What are you planning to do next?"

"That's the thing: The reason I broke up with Eddie." She began, but Barry spoke next.

"Hold on– _You_ broke up with Eddie? I thought he broke up with you after you told him you kissed the Flash!"

Iris shook her head. "He knew I was upset," she took a shaky breath, "and he said he would forgive me. He's a good guy, dad." She turned to Joe. "He just wants me to be happy."

When her father spoke, his tone was one of stunned confusion. "He wants you to be happy with _the Flash_?"

"That's the other thing," she said. She bit her lip. "I didn't tell him it was the Flash. I know how much he looks up to him, and I didn't want to ruin that for him. But, I also had another reason."

_Oh, great. What next?_ "What's that?" Barry asked. Iris began to chew on her bottom lip, and she sat down in the chair adjacent to the couch.

"Well. . . I thought maybe . . . maybe if I knew who the Flash was, maybe if we got together–"

Joe's eyes were almost popping out of his head. "_Together_?"

"–without the mask, then Eddie wouldn't know he was the Flash."

Joe shook his head. "Iris, how do you even know the real man behind the mask wants to be . . . together?" He gave a side-glance to Barry. It was a caring side-glance. Barry appreciated it.

"He kissed me back."

_Oh, someone please kill me._

Now, Joe was less confused and more trying not to laugh with every fibre of his being. Meanwhile, Barry was freaking out. He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed it down his face.

"Oh, God– Iris! You don't even know who this guy is!" The comment came out angrier than he expected it to.

She crossed her arms. "But I do know who he is. I might not know his name, or what he looks like, but I _know_ him. He's kind. He's good. He's a hero!" Her eyes narrowed and she lifted her chin defiantly. "And, he's an exceptionally great kisser."

_Was not expecting that._

Joe had had enough. "Okay, I'm leaving." He got up and began to walk out of the living room, looking back at the two of them when he reached the door. "I can't stay for this kind of talk. This is a, uh, best friend talk." The last couple words were almost laughed out and he covered his mouth before walking out of the house.

Barry turned his attention back to the girl that he secretly loved so much. "Iris. . . The fact is, you don't know this guy. The real guy could be boring, or obnoxious, or, or. . ."

"Or what?" Iris's words came out as a challenge. Barry didn't know why he was fighting her so much on this. She was basically saying she wanted to date him. She had basically said that he was a hero. (She had basically said that he was an exceptionally great kisser.) But he knew why he was fighting her on it. Because he felt hurt. Because he knew that she liked the mask better than the real thing. Because he knew that if she ever found out who the Flash really was, she wouldn't want him.

"Or maybe you just won't like him, because what you have imagined in your head is better than the real thing!" he said, voice a little higher in volume this time. "You might think that this guy is some great hero and that might be true, but that might not be the real him! You expect him to be strong, and good, but what if he's not? What if he's not strong enough, as you imagined? What if he's not _good_ enough?!"

Iris's hands balled up into fists, and she took a deep breath. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." She got up, grabbed her jacket, and left before Barry could say anything else.

* * *

><p>It wasn't until she was outside that Iris realized why Barry was so upset. And then came that horrible feeling all over again. The feeling she had when she was with Eddie, but her best friend had just told her he loved her. Iris didn't know what to do. She felt like there was something between her and Barry, something <em>more<em>– Something that came with her breaking up with Eddie. But she knew there was something between her and the Flash, too.

Nether relationships were very tangible.

She didn't want to hurt Barry. She loved him, but she didn't know if she _loved_ him. What if she tried, and she didn't, not that way? She didn't want to risk it.

Then there was the Flash. There was kissing, yes– the Flash had made it pretty clear that he wanted her, too. But the mask was in the way. She didn't know the _real_ him. But she wanted to. She wanted to decide for herself whether or not she liked the man behind the Flash.

So she got out her phone and updated her site.

_"__You know where to find me."_


End file.
